The Nightmare Arc
thumb|300px|right|Intro theme to The Nightmare Arc. thumb|300px|right|Outro theme to The Nightmare Arc. Synopsis This arc takes place in a currently unknown time in the future. The plot of this arc is that the Nightmares, super beings from another realm, have finally decided that the rest of the universe has become unbalanced and in order to restore it they must destroy the many kings of the other realms; the king of Earth/Humans, the king of Hell/Demons, the king of Soul Society/Spirits and the king of Heuco Mundo/Hollows. They are not interested in aiding any one else and are working for their own king, Avarice. What has become of the king of Purgatory/Nightmares? Will he succeed in destroying all things? This arc has been completed. Click '''Here '''to continue through the series. Edits and Reconstruction Recently, the volumes and chapters of the FanFiction BLEACH series under Banzuke's creation have under gone change. Originally there was only 5 short chapters within each volume but now there are 10 chapters. After The Joy of Death in Volume 5: Hearts of Nothingness all chapters have been extremely extended to keep the entertainment value up and to avoid too many over all chapters near the end of the series. Characters The following characters will be making an appearance in The Nightmare Arc: List of Earth's Defenders *Ren Idachi - The main protagonist. He has recently gained powers in the past year allowing him to have Soul Reaper-like abilities. His story is yet to be known, however, it is believed that he will tell it eventually. *Minoru Suzuki - A supporting protagonist. Much like Ren, Minoru has gained powers in the past year as well. Minoru currently acts as a friend to Ren and is in love with Yasu. Minoru seems intelligent and has a little understanding of the Soul Reapers. *Yasu Isayama - A supporting protagonist. Yasu is in love with Minoru, an extremely intelligent young man, but she feels that she only gets in his way. Yasu displays a some-what friendship with Ren but she doesn't really seem to think of him as an equal. She is terribly afraid of spiders. *Apollo Higashikuni - A supporting protagonist. Apollo is a friend of Ren and is a professional athlete at their school. He is also very intelligent comparing his own knowledge with that of the analytical Minoru. Although he does not appear to have Shinigami-like powers he does currently have a mysterious power that will be explained later on. Apollo has recently appeared in upcoming volumes of The Nightmare Arc. *Anaki Ukita - A supporting protagonist. She is both a friend to Ren and Yasu, having known the later for 2 years more then the other. She always tries to act as the leader of her "friend circle" but is a fanatic when it comes to cloths shopping or collecting EGL. She tries to keep Yasu from hurting Minoru on the few occasions he pisses her off. Anaki has recently appeared in upcoming volumes of The Nightmare Arc. *Daichi Hyobanshi - A supporting protagonist. He is the teacher of Ren, Minoru, Yasu, Apollo, and Anaki. He makes up for the lack of comic relief by preforming odd or completely random things. He is best known as, "The King of Expressions" as he can be seen several times switching expressions from one character to another. Daichi has recently appeared in upcoming volumes of The Nightmare Arc. *Mary Tokudaiji - A supporting protagonist. She is a good friend of Ren's and is considered increadably smart, even smarter then the analytical Minoru or the engineer master Apollo. She wears all white (although the clothes will change they will always be white) and wears glasses. She is very mysterious due to her sudden disappearences but Ren believes Mary has "other" things to take care of. Mary has recently appeared in upcoming volumes of The Nightmare Arc. *Setzer Kujo - A supporting protagonist and part-time antagonist. He is a friend to Apollo but he is very rude to both Ren and Minoru as well as Mary. Although he may seem like a punk or jerk, in truth he feels that he is the only person strong enough to keep them safe and that the reason he treats them badly is so that he can show them that he IS the only one capable of protecting them. Setzer has recently appeared in upcoming volumes of The Nightmare Arc. *Akio Konoe - A supporting protagonist. He is a new kid to Ren's school but is very shy, not telling much about himself. He dresses in very expensive clothes and always acts formal. Even Minoru comments that he seems "odd" to his standards. Akio, however, is very friendly when he finally has the chance to talk to anyone. Akio has recently appeared in upcoming volumes of The Nightmare Arc. List of Fanon Captains Due to the SiNs attempting to steal the identity of the Gotei 13, the captains have decided to change their normal traditional uniforms into slightly modified uniforms. They are believed to have certain powers for each captains but they have not been revealed yet. List of Fanon Lieutenants Much like the Gotei 13's captains, the lieutenants have changed their uniforms as well because the Fronzedels (lieutenant ranked Nightmares within the SiNs) have stolen their uniforms. Unlike the captains, the lieutenants don't have special powers applied to their new uniforms. Chapters Volume 1: The Worlds As We Know Them #A World In Chaos The worlds change as we know of, however, for unexplained reasons, the worlds have developed quite rapidly and are in a state of natural chaos. #Bay For The Soul Singer Soul Society is dealing with their own world's problems and citizens begin to have constant states of forgetfulness and confusion. #Are We Not Human? The human world seems to also be under some strange manipulation.'' What is going on?'' #Keep Your Enemies Closer Soul Society has agreed to a temporary truce with the Hollows'' as to help each other discover what anomalies are happening to the worlds''.'' What they find is shocking!'' #Was It Worth It All? Soul Society and the Hollows have discovered that a rift in the realms has been eating away at the worlds in order to power some unknown force on the other side. A glimpse of a new enemy, the Nightmares, appears at the end. #Born From Our Ashes Unknown beings are attacking Soul Society and are draining the spiritual energy from the world in order to power their portal so that may enter the Human realm. What ever they are, they seem to cause even the Gotei 13 trouble. #Are They Real? The unknown beings are revealed to be Nightmares, creatures from the realm of Purgatory. They have no true souls and therefore are relentless when it comes to fighting. Only a small group of them are shown. #What Power To Be Held The battle over Soul Society continues and it appears that the Nightmares have changed their plans. Instead of draining the world entirely of it's spiritual power, they only drain enough so that the portal remains long enough for small groups of Nightmares to enter the Human realm and destroy it slowly. #The Siege With small groups of Nightmares still keeping the Soul Society busy, other small groups of Nightmares have entered the Human realm. They have begun the process of draining the Earth of it's spiritual power so that they can open another portal to Heuco Mundo in order to begin another attack on the Hollows. #It's Our Birth Right The Human realm is protected by Ren Idachi, Minoru Suzuki, and Yasu and are keeping the Nightmares busy, for the time being, while the Soul Society finishes off what groups remain in their realm. However, due to the delay on their plans, the Nightmares send one of their top ranking species, a SiN, to dispatch any one causing trouble to their genocidal march on the universe. Volume 2: Our Worse Nightmares #Our Pain Pt. 1 Number 17 of the SiNs, Pain, has been dispatched to Earth to destroy Ren and his friends. While he begins his attack on the Human realm, the Soul Society learns about the Nightmares' plans for the rest of the universe. #Our Pain Pt. 2 Pain is still fighting Ren and his friends while the Soul Society makes decisions on invading the realm of Purgatory. More information is learned that Nightmares don't know they are not really who they think they are and that they serve some supreme power. #Our Pain Pt. 3 While Soul Society begins their operations to invade Purgatory, Ren and his friends are able to push Pain back to his world. It is then realized that the worlds, no, all of existence, is in grave danger and Ren believes that him and his friends must side with Soul Society to put an end to the genocidal Nightmares. #The Rift of Terror Now that the Soul Society has more of an understanding of what they are up against, they have sent the Gotei 13 to travel through a rift to create a new gate to enter the realm of Purgatory. However, this is not simple with Purgatory's only rift being that of terror. #A World of Nothingness A portal has been established and a hidden base has been built by the Gotei 13. From here they plan to keep a steady defense against the Nightmares as well as a slowly advancing offense. However, the barrier that is meant to hide their spiritual pressure is acting up and some Nightmares sense their arrival. #Not So Nice Neighbors Captains Tsubasa and Michiko take some recon of the local area and plant many spirit detection devices to sense the pressure of any approaching Nightmares. However, they run into Pain who is eager for more fighting. #Your A Pain While Tsubasa and Michiko fight Pain, the others have done research on the realm of Purgatory. The world is entirely fake, created by a supreme being called Avarice. They believe he only remarks himself as a god and believe he may be the leader of all the Nightmares. #Don't You Ever Die? ''Tsubasa and Michiko manage to push Pain away from the hidden location of the base but fail to destroy him. They believe he has more power then what he shows. The Gotei 13 find out even more information about the Nightmares, in that, there are 30 "super" Nightmares called SiNs, and they function much like the Gotei 13 with few differences.They begin to realize how much a threat the Nightmares and SiNs are as Pain is only ranked 17. '' #To Take Control The Gotei 13, Ren, Minoru, and Yasu split up to search separate parts of the world. Eventually they begin to run into small divisions of Nightmares led by Nightmares called Fronzedels, who are much like the Gotei 13's Lieutenants. #Battle For Our Lives Shou begins his battle with the Fronzedel of rank 22. ''Volume 3: The Fronzedel'' #Number 22 Shou is having a brawl with the Fronzedel of rank 22. It seems that the Fronzedels are only testing the captains and the others to prepare the SiNs for their battles. Shou eliminates the Fronzedel with it laughing at his efforts. #A Pawn For His King Fronzedel of rank 17 begins his fight with Ren. It menchins that he is only getting Ren warmed up for his captain, Pain. #No More Mercy While the fight with Fronzedel of rank 17 and Ren continues, other captains begin their fight with other Fronzedels. Michiko begins his fight with Fronzedel of rank 19 and Takeshi begins his fight with Fronzedel of rank 20. #This Is Only The Battle Michiko finishes off his fight, as well does Takeshi. Minoru, one of Ren's friends, runs into both Fronzedel of rank 15 and rank 21. Minoru gains some back up from captain Ryou. #Do You Feel The Pain? Ren defeats the Fronzedel of rank 17 and begins his battle with Pain but is he ready to take on such an extremely over powering enemy? #A Ruthless Fight Captain Ryou and Ren's friend, Minoru, defeat the two Fronzedels. While they attempt to search for the others, Ren attempts to take on Pain. He is to weak to take on Pain, however, now that Pain has released his zanpakutō. #Back In The Oven Captain Masaru takes on the Fronzedel of rank 10, 12, 16, and 14 all at one time. He explains that no one can kill a juggernaut. #The Black Angel Yasu, one of Ren's friends, attempts to defeat another Fronzedel that has prevented her from checking out the rest of the local divisions. Fronzedel of rank 13 attempts to drain her soul, however, Yasu is able to release her Bankai and eliminates the Fronzedel before he can succeed. #To Close To Death Ren is being over powered by Pain and Ren attempts to use his Bankai but finds it stunned. Ren is beaten into the ground and passes out. #One Last Chance While Ren is passed out, a massive army of Fronzedel attack the Gotei 13 base, and captain Ryouichi is missing. Will Pain kill Ren? Will the Nightmares destroy the Gotei 13? ''Volume 4: Our Hidden Destiny'' #Valley of Hope Ren wakes up to find himself imprisoned within a strange room and chained to the wall. While Ren is trying to recover, the Gotei 13 are fighting off the Fronzedel army and Pain leads them, however, he is unexpectedly challenged by an unknown voice. #A Battle To The Bitter End ''Captain Ryouichi has challenged Pain to a one-on-one battle while the Fronzedel ravage the Gotei 13's base. Mean while, Ren attempts to escape his prison only to find that someone is keeping guard on his cell.'' #To Much To Soon Ren talks to a disembodied voice and learns that the SiNs want to use Ren as a test subject to a human's true potential. Mean while, the Fronzedel are being beaten back by the Gotei 13 and the captains attempt to create a rescue group to find Minoru, Yasu, and Ren. At the same time, Ryouichi is fighting Pain and Ryouichi seems to have the upper hand. #His Tale Ends Here Ryouichi and Pain are fighting one on one, however, Pain is unable to recover from one of Ryouichi's special attacks forcing Pain to use his Bankai. Pain then gains a new set of clothing and has his strength recovered as well as dishes out some new attacks. However, Ryouichi is able to beat back Pain's attacks putting Pain on the defensive. #His Tale Truely Ends Here Pain is almost completely beaten to a pulp by Ryouichi, however, Pain unleashes his most powerful attack. Pain becomes a beastly tree creature and attacks Ryouichi with vines and bark like whips that tear through Ryouichi's clothing putting Ryouichi (for the first time) into a defensive stance. But Pain is unable to block Ryouichi's Bankai which ultimately kills Pain. Ren is then revealed to be talking to a new SiN with the tattoo 16 on his right hand. #His Cold Heart Ryouichi calls a meeting of the Gotei 13 at their decimated base in order to begin the search for Ren and his friends. Tsubasa Mazaki leads the group consisting of captains Kouki Akita, Honoka Ichikawa, Ryou Ui, Masaru Nagano, and himself. While they begin their search, a SiN can be seen watching their base from a distance and it reveals it's 12 tattoo on the back of it's neck. #Trapped In The Frost Ren tries to break free from his bindings but finds it useless. He attempts to use his fire-type Bankai but is unable to. He starts to give up but his zanpakutō's spirit shows up to help him prepare for future fights. The SiN watching over his chamber arrives to find that Ren is missing but their is no signs of escape. #A Burning Passion Ren awakens into a strange world where the landscape is made of floating islands covered in trees, flowers, and grass. In the middle island is a bright light and Ren attempts to reach it. While Ren has disappeared, the Gotei 13 continue to search for him and his friends. #The Man Who Walks Alone Minoru is lost within one of the division and it's unclear if even the Nightmares populate this area. He does, however, run into wild animal-like Nightmares called Helmis who look from anything like normal Earth creatures to fantasy creatures. #A Blood Brother Captain Ryou Ui senses a presence and tells the others to continue their search. Eventually, Ryou is confronted by SiN 16 who calls himself Panic. While those two have begun conflict, Ren is attempting to learn and control his Bankai but must past tests set before him. Who is this new SiN? And will Ren become stronger? ''Volume 5: Hearts of Nothingness'' #What He Wants SiN 12 appears in front of the other captains who continue to search for Ren and his friends. The SiN calls itself Greed and challenges them all to combat. However, only Honoka Ichikawa excepts the battle. While this is occuring, Ryou is fighting Panic and doesn't seem to have the advantage as the battle seems pretty even. #Heart of Fire Ren continues his training within the Zanpakutō world, in order to obtain his Bankai. He is seen meeting a strange, middle-aged man who appears to be a samurai. #Over Joyed Yasu awakens in a park but finds that no Nightmares are there. She eventually runs into a small Nightmare that reveals to her that he is Joy, SiN 14, . Yasu begins to worry about how the others are doing as well as her own condition, thinking she has no possible power against an enemy like a SiN. #In The Wild Blue Wonder Ren is challenged by the samurai, within the Zanpakutō '' world. If he can defeat the samurai without using any power but his own strength and knowledge, then the samurai will lend Ren his Zanpakutō'' power to release his level 2 Bankai. #The Brother's Hate Panic and Ryou Ui's battle continues, however, Panic becomes enraged after Ryou reveals that Pain has been defeated. Panic reveals that the two were technical brothers, both being made by Avarice at the same time. Panic uses his rage to gain the upper hand against Ryou and freezes Ryou in solid ice as he claims, "Now I will have no fear..." #Drowning in Sorrow Minoru finds himself in a new devision that is similar to bog where in the center is a large mass of land surrounded by water. On the island is one of the cloaked SiN members who reveals his tatoo of VI on his left hand. While Minoru begins the battle, Ryou final is freed by Honoka who claims that Greed was too powerful for her to handle and that she had to flee. #The Joy of Death Yasu is having troubles parring with the SiN Joy as he is barely having any effort in hopes of having any form of excitement from the battle. Yasu's lack of using her Bankai has Joy believing that Yasu isn't strong enough to make the battle last and decides that he should finish her off. #A Distant Light, A Burning Passion Ren is fighting his Zanpakutō spirit, Seika, in hopes of gaining his level 2 Bankai. Seika is overpowering Ren greatly but Ren starts to realize that battle is different for everyone. His reason is to protect his friends, that his friends are his strength. Seika knows that although Ren has a strong heart, he cannot defeat enemies with friends alone but Seika tells Ren they are friends too and he will aid him in his battles even more. Ren and Seika end the battle and Ren wakes up in a park. #Awaken Inside! The Battle of Ice and Fire! Ren finds his way to where the Gotei 13 base is to find it torn to pieces. Fronzedel bodies litter the ground and Ryouichi inspects the battle ground. He is glad to see Ren alive but he is afraid that Ren's duty is not done yet. Ryouichi explains that Ren's power is gaining slightly and that he will be a great aid in the battle with the Nightmares in future battles but when Ren goes to ask Ryouichi a question Panic arrives to kill Ryouichi only to soon realize his true enemy is Ren, the one who prevented him from aiding his fallen brother Pain. #Melt The Heart Away, Panic Fades Panic starts the battle in a fury releasing his Zanpakutō and striking at Ren with no remorse. However, Ren releases his level 1 Bankai to push Panic into a defensive where he eventually releases his Final Form Bankai. Ren is unable to fight on an offensive as Panic is too powerful but Seika speaks to Ren telling him to release his level 2 Bankai 'Kurai Honoo. After it's release, Panic has no choice but to use his most powerful transformation but in the end it too is no match for the overpowering reiasu of Ren's level 2 Bankai. Panic dies screaming out for Pain but is incinerated into nothing but ashes and fabric pieces of his cloak. '' ''Volume 6: On The Offensive! #Yasu's Tears, Mirror of the Moon Yasu continues her battle with Joy who finds she is a waste of his play time. However, Yasu's Zanpakutō reacts to her cries for help and releases it's Bankai. Joy becomes over joyed with happiness to see her Bankai but plans to still kill her. He uses his powers over the element of Confusion (illusion) but in the end, Yasu's Bankai proves to be to much for Joy to handle. #No More Joy, Come Forth Sloth! Joy is defeated, his body almost completely severed in half from Yasu's Bankai. Sloth,'' a higher ranking nobody who believes he doesn't have to apply any effort at all, fights Minoru to stop the commotion. He reveals he is SiN VI which threatens Minoru quite a bit.'' #''Sea of Musicals! Sloth, The Tidal Muse! Sloth unleashes his powers over water very quickly giving Minoru no time to attack but only to dodge. Sloth eventually gains the upper hand by trapping Minoru in a whirlpool. He releases his Zanpakutō turning it into a sitar which allows him perfect control over the water in the area.'' #The Worse Nightmare Begins, Greed Starts The Game Greed appears from a shadowy part of the world laughing at the destruction of his own world. He comments to himself that he never really did care for the rest of his kind. He begins to plot the destruction of the Gotei 13 and much of the SiNs so that he can take control over Purgatory. He is unable to finish his thoughts when he senses the Gotei 13's hidden base and attacks it. #The Barrier Is Broken, Gotei 13 Fight To The Finish! With the attack of Greed, the Gotei 13 are summoned back to the base. Greed summons a plethora of Creao Nightmares to attack the base. As they have no free wills, Greed is excited to see that they obey him and leaves them to destroy the base. Ren notices the base under attack and rushes to it. #Sloth Perrishes, Betrayal of Greed ''Sloth is destroying Minoru in their battle, as Minoru's level 1 Bankai has no where near enough power to take on Sloth. Sloth grows bored with Minoru's ability to survive his basic attacks and summons his Bankai in which he conjures a giant tidal wave to crush Minoru. However, just before the attack can hit Minoru, Sloth is struken down by Greed. When asked why (by Sloth) Greed replies that he needs Minoru alive for his master plan. Sloth curses Greed's intentions but Greed mysteriously ends Sloth's life quickly. Greed leaves Minoru in the marshes.'' #Loyalty Takes His Place, King of Barriers Knowing of the betrayal of Greed, the SiNs have sent Loyalty to set up a barrier around the city of Tera to prohibit Greed's entry. Loyalty is also tasked with killing Greed if he happens to run into him. Minoru is depressed about his weakness, unable to finish off Sloth himself. Minoru then hears Greed's voice and follows it. #Shou and Michiko, Fight To Survive ''While the invasion of Creao marches onto the Gotei 13 base, captains Shou and Michiko take up the front lines. They are looking for Ren and his friends as they are the only ones not in the area. Unable to do so, they are surrounded by Creao and effectively take out the large group. They report to captain Ryouichi who appears to be concentrated on other matters.'' #Grand Scale, Nightmares vs. SiNs With the construction of the barrier, Avarice's mental connection to the Nightmares is severed and they become aware of their existence. Unable to except it, they are still aware of their memories as Nightmares and attack Tera. The Nightmares inside fear that the other Nightmares have become demons and the barrier is ordered to be taken down. One of the SiNs comments that Greed has indeed thought this out. #Greed's Defeat? Loyalty Begins His Purge Minoru eventually finds Greed who tells him a few things then asks him a few questions, only to reply in a riddle. Minoru, unable to get the answer, attacks Greed. Greed, sarcastically, takes the blow and supposedly dies. Loyalty, hearing the news of Greed's defeat, heads out to take care of the Gotei 13. ''Volume 7: Into The Kingdom of SiNs!'' #Barrier vs. Mirror, Who Will Win? ''Loyalty has finally reached the destroyed Gotei 13 base and comments on Greed's handy work. He is, however, intercepted by captain Michiko who realizes his XIII tatoo on his right cheek. She begins the battle with him but he reveals his very powerful power over Barriers. Michiko is glad to hear this as her powers over Reflection is much the same and she always wanted to reach a new limit. The two begin to battle.'' #Captain's Concerne, Ren finds Yasu With Minoru missing, Yasu searches the first few areas she visited in hopes of finding him. However, she only encounters Ren who tries to cheer her up but only makes her cry. Ren promises he will find Minoru for her and she stops crying. Mean while, captain Ryouichi has entered a state of meditation and is seeking answers for unknown reasons. #Strength of the Heart, Yasu's Bankai With Ren searching for Minoru, Yasu returns to the Gotei 13 base to find it destroyed by the Creao. She also realizes the battle between Michiko and Loyalty but when she goes to enter the battle, she is consumed by one of Loyalty's barrier bursts. She wakes up on a water-like surface with a full moon over head. There is large columns sprouting from the dark abyss of the water that tower at least 50 feet above Yasu. #Minoru Lost, Forest of Nightmares Minoru, feeling empty although he has defeated the evil Greed, seeks to learn more about himself and possible ways to become stronger. However, he becomes lost in a forest that is not under the Nightmares control. He attempts to seek out an exit but it appears the forest has similar counterparts leading Minoru in one big circle. #Fronzedel, Nothing To Lose? With few Fronzedel under their leadership, the SiNs have established a recovery of the perished Fronzedel. Steal, who is observing the battle between Michiko and Loyalty, gets word of the recovery and begins to collect the bodies of the fallen Fronzedel. Ren, at the time, is lost within a residential district. #Set In Stone, Gluttony Consumes ''The SiNs have agreed to send out SiN VIII, also known as Gluttony 'to help dispatch the Gotei 13. Gluttony doesn't seem to need to travel as he can attack the base with earthquakes but the SiN push him into helping Loyalty and Steal. Yasu, at the time, finds a mysterious women stareing into the moon. She seems to know Yasu, telling her this is her "world". #Cave of Mysteries, Minoru and His Bankai Minoru finally finds his way to a cave and decides to rest there for awhile. While exploring the cave, Minoru starts to have flashbacks to when he was in school and when he wasn't strong enough to defend one of his friends from some other students at his school. He remembers when he was alone during the New Years and that's when he gained his Shinigami powers from a soul reaper who was mortally wounded by a Hollow. Minoru then hears a voice who tells him to sleep. Minoru, believing he knows the voice, takes a nap. #Steal Emerges, The Heart of Women Under edit... #Greed Returns! He Schemes Again! Under edit... #Nightmares to Arms! Hate Takes Control Under edit... Under edit... Continuation There is currently a sequal set to come out soon. It will feature more information about Ren and his past, including how he, Minoru, and Yasu obtained Shinigami powers. It will also lead up to the fight with Avarice. Currently, the next arc will be called, the Panaramis Arc, which is named after the inner world of the Nightmare world.